Taylor Swift Happy Over "Teardrops"

Taylor Swift at the New Artists' Party for a Cause ACM event, Saturday, May 17, 2008 at the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas, NV. Photo provided by the Academy of Country Music.

Sept. 3, 2008 — Taylor Swift’s forlorn little song about a love gone wrong, "Teardrops On My Guitar," took her into territory she never expected. It was one thing to get a Country Music Association award last year, and another to pick up a trophy from the Academy of Country Music in May, but after the song’s foray into the pop charts, her nomination for Best New Artist at this Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards stunned her.

"I didn't think it was possible," she told VH1. "I was so shocked. I started screaming, 'I get to go to the VMAs!' I didn't think I'd get to go to the VMAs. I'm not that cool. As a country artist, I've been pretty unapologetic about it. [But] it's cool to be included."

The song is — as many as Taylor’s songs have been — about a real-life relationship that fell apart in high school. Some of her associates felt the video, which featured actor Tyler Hilton as the male love interest, should have an older setting to it, but she ultimately insisted on shooting it at a Nashville school to retain the song’s integrity.

"We came up with the idea because basically what you see in the video is what the song is about," she said. "We thought maybe we'd make it a more city video, but we got back to basics. I wanted to make a video about what the song was about."

Taylor’s VMA appearance comes amidst speculation that Joe Jonas, of Disney’s Jonas Brothers, is her latest love interest — which would also make him the potential topic of a future Taylor Swift hit. She’s shot numerous scenes for the group’s upcoming movie, The Jonas Brothers: Burning Up, and made guest appearances at Jonas concerts in Anaheim and New York City.

The topic came up with VH1, but Taylor’s response was rather coy: "For me, in dealing with things that people write, I try not to let it affect my life. He's an amazing guy, and anyone would be lucky to be dating him."

Taylor’s next album, Fearless, is due Nov. 11. Meanwhile, look for her Monday as a co-host of ABC’s "CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night Out" with Kellie Pickler and Julianne Hough. Among the acts slated for the two-hour special are Trace Adkins, Josh Turner, Alan Jackson and Faith Hill.